Reading the Grapes of Wrath (continued)

They eventually find work and shelter picking cotton. They share an old boxcar with another family, the Wainwrights, who have a daughter, Agnes, right around Al’s age. The family actually begins making some money and has a few happy moments. Al and Agnes announce that they have fallen in love and are engaged. Finally, something to celebrate!

That brief moment of happiness proves short lived when Rose of Sharon goes into labor in the boxcar and her baby is stillborn. The rains have been severe and their boxcar floods, so again they have to move on, although Al stays behind with Agnes. The family finds what seems like an abandoned barn - but when they get closer, they see a little boy and his father have also made a camp there. The father is nearly dead because he has stopped eating in order to provide more for his son.

Ma Joad immediately realizes what must be done. Herding the others outside, she leaves Rose of Sharon, she was still producing milk even though her baby had died, to literally nurse the dying man with the milk of human kindness.